Catholic Schools administration changes to better support schools
Following a period of consultation, the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle announced a new organisational structure for its Catholic Schools administration, with the aim to better support schools and student outcomes.
Chief Executive Officer of the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, Sean Scanlon said, “The intention of this work has always been to ensure an education first approach, that is student outcome based. The new structure evolved through a number of iterations throughout our consultation as we listened to input and heard the ways schools can be better supported.”
“We seek to support schools to manage their administrative burdens and assist them to address the significant governance and compliance obligations of today’s education environment. This will allow schools to focus on the learning and wellbeing of students."
"The new structure ensures educational specialists continue to assist schools with pedagogy, learning, wellbeing and education supports. We are also enhancing resources and aligning leadership and specialisations with the integrated Diocesan structure, again with the intention to better support schools.”
Changes include new roles focused on targeted areas of need, 4 distinct educational streams, a new Head of Catholic Schools, additional support for principals and a commitment to continue to review educational programs in 2023.
“We believe that better support with non-educational tasks will allow principals and other school staff to put their expertise into the areas that they are passionate about – ensuring the best possible learning opportunities for students and their families,” Mr Scanlon said.
“The past two months have seen positive consultation with staff, parent representatives and school compliance bodies. This work has utilised the resources of a dedicated project team, including probity advisors and education experts from Australian Catholic University to test our initial guiding principles and strengthen the revised Catholic Schools administrative structure.”
It is anticipated the first phase of changes will be finalised and in place by the end of 2022 to be effective from 3 January 2023.
The Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle is responsible for the leadership, operation and management of 58 Catholic schools in the Newcastle, Hunter and Manning regions.
